Academic literature on the topic 'Preschool religious program'

Title: Perspectives on what a preschool teacher need to know about religion: Curriculum analysis and prescriptive suggestions.Abstract: What does a pre-school teacher need to know about religion? This question is discussed in two separate parts of the article. The first part is a curriculum analysis of the framework surrounding Early Childhood Education and the three year undergraduate program for pre-school teachers in Norway. The analysis leads to a critical discussion on the bias towards Christian values in this framework. The second part of the article is prescriptive, answering the article’s research question. The outline of what a pre-school teacher’s competence on religion should consist of draws on the analysis and critical discussion in the first part. Here, arguments for including perspectives drawn from secular academic Religious studies in the three-year undergraduate program for pre-school teachers are presented. The main argument is that perspectives from Religious studies will ensure equal treatment of all religions and life views, and thus ensure the teaching to be in accordance with international conventions regarding human rights, which Norway are committed to.

A global initiative has emerged in recent years to highlight early childhood education and care as a foundation for later learning and development. The goal of this study was to investigate the choices that Saudi Arabian parents made for their children’s preschool education. In a qualitative, exploratory study, we investigated parental selection of preschool programming in Saudi Arabia. Guided by a phenomenological approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 Saudi Arabian women that had preschool-aged children. Although some research has examined the constraints and factors affecting parental selection of preschool programming, it remains unclear when these constraints and factors are considered by parents during the decision-making process, and how the decisions are made. The interviews revealed that parents consider not only educational reputation in the selection of preschool programming, but also instructional use of Arabic and English, religious foundation, teaching quality, classroom preparation, program scheduling, tuition costs, and physical security of the preschool environment. The results suggest that improving information collection is essential for empowering parents to make wise decisions, with the child’s happiness and academic growth having a significant impact on those decisions. The discussion addresses the importance of identifying the factors that affect parental selection of preschool programming, so that educational professionals may better meet the needs and expectations of parents in Saudi Arabia.

One of the most innovative provisions of the Economic Opportunity Act, passed by Congress in August 1964 as the heart of Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, was funding for a preschool program for the youngest of America's poor, known as Head Start. Many children were qualified for Head Start in Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation. This was especially so in the northwest quadrant of that state. The area, known locally as “the Delta,” was dominated by the floodplain of the lower Mississippi River, a largely rural, cotton-based economy, and tens of thousands of desperately poor, largely black, farm workers.

A Child Identity Card (CIC) is a card issued by the Government to collect data and provide child protection. However, not all preschoolers have CIC. This service aims to provide CIC ownership solutions in rural areas. The service method is applying science and technology and community empowerment. Empowerment is carried out by kindergarten teachers and the surrounding community. The facts at the service location show that 30 children do not have CIC. Thirty-three percent of children who do not have CIC do not have a birth certificate. As many as 57.1% of parents of children who do not have birth certificates do not register their marriage at the Office of Religious Affairs. Parents do not have time to take care of CIC. Parents feel CIC is not necessary. The online CIC program has difficulties; parents do not have cellphones, cellphones are not active, and they cannot create emails. The result of the empowerment is that teachers are skilled in proposing birth certificates and CIC offline and online through the Jember Regency Dispendukcapil Service Information System application. The result of the service is that 24 preschool children have KIA, and five children have birth certificates. Teacher participation should be optimized to increase the ownership of CIC for preschool children.

The process of growth and development is the main process in the process of a child's life. The process of growth and development that lasts 1000 days of birth is the responsibility of all of us, both biological parents and non-biological parents. Early education in children has become a government concern. The assumption that education can only start after elementary school age is not true, even education that starts at kindergarten age is actually too late. This research is an intervention research by providing intervention to children by TPA Ar-Rahman teacher with 1 pre-post test group with developmental stimulus method in the social sector. The technique used is total sampling, namely all Ar-Rahman TPA teachers. The data was collected by using a paired T-test approach through a pre-post test. The benefits of future research are expected to add insight to teachers about concepts, stimulation and screening of preschool children's growth and development and teachers can make early detection of growth and development in preschool children appropriately. This good result is expected to be followed by the implementation of early detection of growth and development in preschool children independently by the school, then reported to the health service center. so that the scope of the early detection program for child growth and development increases. The determining factor for the development of children both physically and mentally is the role of parents, especially the role of a mother, because mothers are the first and foremost educators for children who are born until they grow up. In the process of forming knowledge, through various parenting styles conveyed by a mother as the first educator, it is very important. Education in the family plays a very important role in developing character, personality, cultural values, religious and moral values, and simple skills

This study examined the relations between family demographics and positive parenting dimensions among urban-residing, low-income, Black caregiving dyads. Participants were 100 co-caregivers affiliated with a Head Start program and reporting on 50 preschool-aged children. Given that the parenting context for the caregiver pairs was not independent, multilevel dyadic analysis was employed to determine demographic predictors of positive parenting dimensions as measured by the emically derived Black Parenting Strengths in Context scale. Findings illuminated associations between combinations of adult/child characteristics (e.g., nativity, parental employment status, child gender) and the five dimensions of positive parenting measured (i.e., Fostering Connectedness; Racial and Cultural Pride; Involvement at School; Religious and Spiritual Practices; Behavioral Responsiveness and Guidance). Findings suggest implications for future research and theory involving Black family life—specifically the need to examine parenting by considering the combined effects of individual and shared family characteristics—and for designing parent support efforts that recognize family roles and heritages, and that leverage the strengths of and heterogeneity among the multiple caregivers in the lives of young children.

Strengthening character education (PPK) is one of the created by the government which aims to create the next generation of the nation who is academically intelligent and also physically and mentally intelligent. Strengthening Character Education that is commonly done is by doing habituation. One of the ways of character education in the form of habituation that has been implemented by SMP Muhammadiyah 4 Sambi is by habituating the implementation of dhuha prayers in congregation. This research was conducted to determine the benefits of practicing dhuha prayer at SMP Muhammadiyah 4 Sambi, which was carried out during the Introduction to Preschool Environment 1 (PLP1) program between 2 weeks, in February 2020 using descriptive methods with qualitative data. The results of this study indicate that the habituation of dhuha prayer in congregation as a strengthening of character education carried out by students at SMP Muhammadiyah 4 Sambi is positive towards student character such as the character likes to establish friendship between students, the character of mutual respect and respect, the character is accustomed to remembering and getting closer. self to the creator, the character of the loss of excessive individualism, and the character of discipline to come on time to school, do good activities repeatedly, and discipline to carry out religious orders. From this it can be said that indeed the habituation of dhuha prayer activities in congregation is beneficial to the character of students.

The paper brings about the results of a research carried out within the project the Importance of Plants in Roma Culture, which on the one hand was dedicated to collecting of intangible cultural heritage of Roma on names of plants in Romani language and how they are used by Roma people in folk medicine, customs, religious celebrations, and, on the other hand to comparison between symbolic uses of certain plants in Serbian and Roma Culture. The research aim was to collect the names of plants in Roma language and to identify their use in folk medicine, customs, religious celebrations, as well as to compare the symbolism of certain plants in Serbian and Roma culture, i.e. to establish potential similarity of symbolism of plants in certain Roma ritual practice with the symbolism of plants in Serbian traditional culture through comparative analysis. For the purpose of the research, a number of students attending the program of first and second level of studies in Romani language at the Preschool Teacher Training College "Mihailo Palov" in Vrsac, supported by their mentors, according to the method of (semi-structured) interview collected data on names and symbolism of 38 different plants in Roma culture in Zabalj, Pirot, Jazak and Vrsac). Consulting relevant literature, the collected linguistic material was analyzed and classified, to be subsequently supported by theoretical impulses and findings of previous research. The obtained results, even though on the small scale sample, confirmed the assumptions that the symbolism of certain plants in Roma culture is similar of even the same in certain ritual practice as the symbolism of plants in the Serbian culture, as well as that certain names of plants are the same as those in majority of population (Serbs) Roma people live by. The research findings may serve as a starting point for more comprehensive research of the subject, as well as a motivation for further deeper research on intangible cultural heritage of Roma in Serbia. The research itself and the way it was conducted did certainly empowered the students, having provided them with the training on how to conduct a field interview, inspiring them to engage in further activities directed to preservation of Roma culture, as well as nurturing of multicultural dialogue, enriching the teaching material in a number of courses, especially within the program in Romani language.

Millennial era life is a big challenge, humans need a strong footing to face all the problems. Religion is God's guidance that becomes the handle of life and it is important to instill religious beliefs early on. The purpose of this study was to find the cultivation of religiosity in preschool children in Kindergarten Aisyiyah Branch and Kindergarten Santa Maria in Kartasura Regency. This study uses qualitative methods with data collection tools, namely interviews, direct observation, and document analysis. Data validated using triangulation of methods and sources. The results showed that the religiosity of planting in the TK Aisyiyah Kartasura branch had more burdens than in the Santa Maria Kindergarten. While its nature is more balanced between vertical ritual content and horizontal content in TK Aisyiyah Kartasura branches compared to TK Santa Maria. The cultivation of moral education is carried out through a step-by-step process starting with teaching to say and answer greetings (Islam), saying good morning and evening to non-Muslims and inviting children to always pray in every activity. Vertical ritual planting in TK Aisyiyah Kartasura branch has more burden through the practice of prayer, memorizing prayers and memorizing short letters from the Qur'an all in Arabic compared to TK Santa Maria only emphasizes the memorization of prayer in Indonesian. Keywords: Inculcation religiosity, Pre-schoolers, Local content curriculum References: Adams, K., Bull, R., & Maynes, M. L. (2016). Early childhood spirituality in education: Towards an understanding of the distinctive features of young children’s spirituality. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 24(5), 760–774. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2014.996425 Arce, E.-M. (2000). Curriculum for Young Children: An Introduction. (New York: Delmar Thomson Learning. Banerjee, K., & Bloom, P. (2015). “Everything Happens for a Reason”: Children’s Beliefs About Purpose in Life Events. Child Development, 86(2), 503–518. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12312 Benson, P. L., Scales, P. C., Syvertsen, A. K., & Roehlkepartain, E. C. (2012). Is youth spiritual development a universal developmental process? An international exploration. Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(6), 453–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2012.732102 Bridges, L. J., & Moore, K. a. (2002). Religion and Spirituality in Childhood and Adolescence. Child Trends, 1–59. Retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2002/01/Child_Trends-2002_01_01_FR_ReligionSpiritAdol.pdf Davies, T. (2019). Religious education and social literacy: the ‘white elephant’ of Australian public education. British Journal of Religious Education, 41(2), 124–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2017.1324758 Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Depdikbud. (2007). Pedoman Teknis Penyelenggaraan Pos PAUD:(Direktorat PAUD, 2006) Direktorat PAUD Grand Design Program Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini Non- formal tahun 2007-20015. Indonesia. Eva L., E. (2013). Introduction to Early Childhood Education. Belmont: Wadsworth. Fisher, J. (2013). Assessing spiritual well-being: Relating with God explains greatest variance in spiritual well-being among Australian youth. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 18(4), 306–317. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364436X.2013.844106 Granqvist, P., & Nkara, F. (2017). Nature meets nurture in religious and spiritual development. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 35(1), 142–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12170 Heiphetz, L., Lane, J. D., Waytz, A., & Young, L. L. (2016). How Children and Adults Represent God’s Mind. Cognitive Science, 40(1), 121–144. https://doi.org/10.1111/cogs.12232 Henderson, A. K. (2016). The Long Arm of Religion: Childhood Adversity, Religion, and Self-perception Among Black Americans. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 55(2), 324–348. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12262 Holloway, S. D. (1999). The Role of Religious Beliefs in Early Childhood Education: Christian and Buddhist Preschools in Japan. ERCP Early Chilhood Research and Practice, 1(2). Retrieved from http://ecrp.illinois.edu/v1n2/holloway.html Kienstra, N., van Dijk-Groeneboer, M., & Boelens, O. (2018). Religious-Thinking-Through Using Bibliodrama: An Empirical Study of Student Learning in Classroom Teaching. Religious Education, 113(2), 203–215. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344087.2017.1403788 King, U. (2013). The spiritual potential of childhood: Awakening to the fullness of life. International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, 18(1), 4–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/1364436X.2013.776266 Rissanen, I., Kuusisto, E., Hanhimäki, E., & Tirri, K. (2018). The implications of teachers’ implicit theories for moral education: A case study from Finland. Journal of Moral Education, 47(1), 63–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2017.1374244 Scott, K. (2014). Inviting young adults to come out religiously, institutionally and traditionally. Religious Education, 109(4), 471–484. https://doi.org/10.1080/00344087.2014.924790 Suyadi, Destiyanti, A. Z., & Sulaikha, N. A. (2019). Perkembangan Nilai Agama-Moral Tidak Tercapai pada Anak Development of Religious-Moral Values Not Reached in Basic Age Children : A Case Study in Class SD Muhammadiyah. 6(1), 1–12.

An exploratory study is part of a project of a quantitative nature conducted in 2021 on a sample of 105 preschool teachers of preschool institutions in the Banja Luka region, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its goal was to examine whether elementary knowledge and sociodemographic variables of preschool teachers (work experience and year of completion of formal education) play a role in the prediction of intergenerational learning in a kindergarten context. The theoretical framework of the study is the concept of both intergenerational learning and professional development. Using multiple regression analysis, preschool teachers’ elementary knowledge was singled out as a predictor of intergenerational learning in kindergarten. The predominance of elementary knowledge about intergenerational learning for its implementation in relation to other variables that do not carry individual action, confirms the importance of a constructivist approach in pedagogical work and indicates that the active construction of individual knowledge through various types of education is crucial. The findings of the study indicate the need for more emphasis on the design and implementation of education on intergenerational learning through formal, non-formal education and informal learning in order to acquaint preschool teachers with this concept and ways of its implementation in everyday life and work through various programs and projects.

This study investigates current teaching practice of the classroom religion program in two preschool settings in the Archdiocese of Brisbane. It also examines the approach to, and construction of, religious education in key Church and Brisbane Archdiocesan documents. Since the first Catholic school opened in Australia in 1820, research and scholarship have elucidated deeper understandings of the nature and purpose of religious education. Over time, a variety of approaches and curriculum models for the classroom religion program have been implemented in both primary and secondary schools. Broadly speaking there are two approaches to the Catholic primary school classroom religion program: educational and catechetical. The educational approach does not presume students' faith, and aims to develop students' religious literacy. The catechetical presumes student faith and aims to develop it. Currently, the Brisbane Catholic Education Religious Education Guidelines (Barry & Brennan, 1997a, 1997b; Barry et al., 2003) adopts an educational approach to the classroom religion program. However, while the approach to religious education in Catholic primary and secondary schools has received scholarly and professional attention over the years, the nature and purpose of religious education in early childhood education in the context of the Catholic preschool, have received minimal attention. Although the first preschools in Catholic schools in the Brisbane Archdiocese opened in 1988, there is no set curriculum for the classroom religion program for the preschool sector. However, Brisbane Catholic Education is presently preparing such a document in preparation for the introduction of the preparatory year of schooling into all Archdiocesan Catholic schools in 2007. The specific focus of the study is to use teachers' talk-in-interaction with their students during classroom religion lessons, as a means to exemplify their approaches to, and constructions of, their classroom religion programs. Underpinned by an Ethnomethodological methodology, the study gathered data in the form of lesson recordings from two preschool teachers. The lesson transcripts are analysed using the ethnomethodological analytic tools of Conversation Analysis and Membership Categorisation Analysis. These analyses reveal deep insights into teachers' practices: the nature of the content they present, their approaches to, and constructions of, their religion programs, as well as the ways in which they construct their students. In addition to classroom practice, this study also investigates relevant sections of the key Church documents The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School (Congregation for Catholic Education, 1988) and the General Directory of Catechesis (Congregation for the Clergy, 1997), as well as the Archdiocese of Brisbane Catholic Education document, 'Religious Education in Preschools', which is part of the Preschool Handbook: Towards Continuity of Learning in the Early Years (Catholic Education Archdiocese of Brisbane, 2002b). Together with the Ethnomethodological methodology, this part of the investigation adopts a functional linguistic methodology using the analytic technique, Systemic Functional Linguistics. Both Systemic Functional Linguistics and Membership Categorisation Analysis are used to explicate these documents. The two Church documents are critical documents, as they contribute to curriculum development and implementation of the classroom religion program in all Australian Catholic schools, whilst the Brisbane document outlines the current policy for religious education in Catholic preschools in the Archdiocese. These analyses elucidate key insights into how the classroom religion program is approached, and reveal that whilst the Church documents maintain an educational approach, aspects of the documents are ambiguous. Analysis of the Brisbane Archdiocesan preschool document reveal it to be at variance with the current educational approach taken by the Archdiocese in its classroom religion curriculum for primary and secondary schools. This study contributes significantly to the nature and purpose of religious education in the early years. It has implications for the theory and practice of the classroom religion program in early childhood, and for preservice and inservice teacher education programs. It also contributes to policy design that guides and shapes curriculum development and implementation. The use of analytic techniques drawn from two different methodologies, Ethnomethodology and functional linguistics, enables a detailed and in-depth analysis, showing them to be effective techniques to be used together in research. These methodologies complement each other to reveal critical insights into both the document studies and teacher classroom interaction. The nature and purpose of religious education in early childhood education is evolving. As Catholic dioceses continue to expand into early childhood education, the focus on religious education in this sector becomes more critical. This study provides a significant foundation for future research.

This study investigates current teaching practice of the classroom religion program in two preschool settings in the Archdiocese of Brisbane. It also examines the approach to, and construction of, religious education in key Church and Brisbane Archdiocesan documents. Since the first Catholic school opened in Australia in 1820, research and scholarship have elucidated deeper understandings of the nature and purpose of religious education. Over time, a variety of approaches and curriculum models for the classroom religion program have been implemented in both primary and secondary schools. Broadly speaking there are two approaches to the Catholic primary school classroom religion program: educational and catechetical. The educational approach does not presume students' faith, and aims to develop students' religious literacy. The catechetical presumes student faith and aims to develop it. Currently, the Brisbane Catholic Education Religious Education Guidelines (Barry & Brennan, 1997a, 1997b; Barry et al., 2003) adopts an educational approach to the classroom religion program. However, while the approach to religious education in Catholic primary and secondary schools has received scholarly and professional attention over the years, the nature and purpose of religious education in early childhood education in the context of the Catholic preschool, have received minimal attention. Although the first preschools in Catholic schools in the Brisbane Archdiocese opened in 1988, there is no set curriculum for the classroom religion program for the preschool sector. However, Brisbane Catholic Education is presently preparing such a document in preparation for the introduction of the preparatory year of schooling into all Archdiocesan Catholic schools in 2007. The specific focus of the study is to use teachers' talk-in-interaction with their students during classroom religion lessons, as a means to exemplify their approaches to, and constructions of, their classroom religion programs. Underpinned by an Ethnomethodological methodology, the study gathered data in the form of lesson recordings from two preschool teachers. The lesson transcripts are analysed using the ethnomethodological analytic tools of Conversation Analysis and Membership Categorisation Analysis. These analyses reveal deep insights into teachers' practices: the nature of the content they present, their approaches to, and constructions of, their religion programs, as well as the ways in which they construct their students. In addition to classroom practice, this study also investigates relevant sections of the key Church documents The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School (Congregation for Catholic Education, 1988) and the General Directory of Catechesis (Congregation for the Clergy, 1997), as well as the Archdiocese of Brisbane Catholic Education document, 'Religious Education in Preschools', which is part of the Preschool Handbook: Towards Continuity of Learning in the Early Years (Catholic Education Archdiocese of Brisbane, 2002b). Together with the Ethnomethodological methodology, this part of the investigation adopts a functional linguistic methodology using the analytic technique, Systemic Functional Linguistics. Both Systemic Functional Linguistics and Membership Categorisation Analysis are used to explicate these documents. The two Church documents are critical documents, as they contribute to curriculum development and implementation of the classroom religion program in all Australian Catholic schools, whilst the Brisbane document outlines the current policy for religious education in Catholic preschools in the Archdiocese. These analyses elucidate key insights into how the classroom religion program is approached, and reveal that whilst the Church documents maintain an educational approach, aspects of the documents are ambiguous. Analysis of the Brisbane Archdiocesan preschool document reveal it to be at variance with the current educational approach taken by the Archdiocese in its classroom religion curriculum for primary and secondary schools. This study contributes significantly to the nature and purpose of religious education in the early years. It has implications for the theory and practice of the classroom religion program in early childhood, and for preservice and inservice teacher education programs. It also contributes to policy design that guides and shapes curriculum development and implementation. The use of analytic techniques drawn from two different methodologies, Ethnomethodology and functional linguistics, enables a detailed and in-depth analysis, showing them to be effective techniques to be used together in research. These methodologies complement each other to reveal critical insights into both the document studies and teacher classroom interaction. The nature and purpose of religious education in early childhood education is evolving. As Catholic dioceses continue to expand into early childhood education, the focus on religious education in this sector becomes more critical. This study provides a significant foundation for future research.
Thesis (Professional Doctorate)
Doctor of Education (EdD)
School of Cognition, Language and Special Education
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In my thesis I deal with the position of the Christian kindergarten in the system of pre-school education in the Czech Republic . I describe the historical development of the kindergarten as an institution. The development of pre-school children is assessed in terms of education, psychology and religion. Family and teacher are the basic partners in the lifelong patterns of shaping the personality of every child. The Christian kindergarten meets the same objectives as other pre-school facilities which are based on The Framework Education Programme. The difference between the Christian kindergarten and ordinary kindergarten is their founder and the Educational Programme which is oriented and adapted to the requirements of Christian education of pre-school children. The Christian kindergarten has a logical place and tradition in the system of pre-school education.